USA > South Carolina > History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, Vol. II pt 2 > Part 4
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Article Ist. This institution shall be called " The Classical, Scientific and Theological Seminary of the South," and shall be located in the District of Pendleton, South Carolina.
2. The members of the Presbytery of South Carolina shall, ex-officio, be a board of trustees, and shall meet semi-annually, or oftener if necessary.
That the Professor of Didactic Theology shall be the prin- cipal of this institution, and, prior to his inauguration, shall solemnly pledge himself to the board not to teach any doc- trines contrary to those contained in the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church.
That as soon as the permanent funds shall amount to fifteen thousand dollars, the institution shall go into operation.
The address to the public was issued by the committee. written, we suppose, by Mr. Rennie, setting forth in appro- priate and vigorous terms the views and objects of the Pres- bytery. This body, however, became more aware of the magnitude and importance of the enterprise, and were fully satisfied that it would require all the energy of the State to accomplish their purpose, even on the small scale which was at first contemplated. They appointed their agent, Rev. Richard B. Cater, to visit Charleston, confer with the mem- bers of the Charleston Union Presbytery on the subject, and to solicit contributions wherever he went. This was ac- cordingly done, and the Presbytery, at its meeting in April, 1826, resolved to attempt the endowment of a professorship in the theological department. A meeting of gentlemen of the city was called on the 10th of April, and gentlemen ap- pointed to assist the agent. The Presbytery resolved that, in the event of success in the attempt to endow the professor-
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hip, they would desire it to be called " The Charleston Union Professorship of Sacred Literature and Biblical Criticism." Minutes, Vol. I, p. 51, 52.)
Previous to this, however, there had been a conference with members of this Presbytery, in which they expressed their villingness " to co-operate in an institution on the plan con- emplated by the Presbytery of South Carolina, provided the jame were submitted to, and accepted by the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia." This had been communicated to the Presbytery of South Carolina at its meeting in April, 1825. A committee was appointed by that body to bring in a minute on that subject, and the constitution was so altered during heir October meeting in 1825, " that the said seminary may be taken under the patronage of the Synod of South Carolina und Georgia at their next sessions, provided such alterations do not affect that part of the constitution which requires the seminary to be located in the District of Pendleton, South Carolina." (Minutes of Presbytery of South Carolina, Vol. I, 0. 135.)
At the thirteenth session of the Synod of South Carolina ind Georgia, on the 18th of November, 1824, held at Augusta, t was overtured " that Synod at their present sessions take nto consideration the expediency of founding a Literary and Theological Seminary for preparing young men for the min- stry.
The overture was submitted to a Committee who recom- mended its adoption, recommending also that Synod take under its immediate care the Literary and Theological Semi- hary of the Presbytery of South Carolina if the Board of Trustees are willing to submit it. A Committee of Confer- ence with the trustees was appointed, the trustees offered the Seminary to the Synod with the single reservation that the ocation be not changed, and the transfer was thus made. Minutes of Synod, pp. 108, 105, 114, 115. A Committee of seven, four clergymen and three laymen, were appointed to draft a Constitution, to report at the next meeting of Synod .* At that meeting held in November, 1825, at Upper Long
* The Rev. Moses Waddel, D. D., Hugh Dickson, William H. Barr, D. D. and Anthony W. Ross, with Patrick Noble, Alexander Bowie and James Wardlaw, Esqrs., were appointed this Committee, who were also nvested with plenary powers meanwhile to conduct the operations of the institute according to their discretion.
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Cane, Abbeville, the Constitution was adopted and Richard B. Cater appointed agent for South Carolina. The Constitution was adopted, under which the following were appointed the first Board of Trustees :
NAMES OF TRUSTEES.
Clergymen .- Rev. F. Cummins, D. D., Rev. W. H. Barr, D D., Rev. Henry Reid, Rev. Hugh Dickson, Rev. B. M. Palmer, D. D., Rev. A. W. Ross, Rev. Thomas Goulding, Rev. R. W. James, Rev. T. C. Henry, D D., Rev. W. A. M'Dowell, Rev. John Rennie, Rev. H. S. Pratt.
Laymen .- James Wardlaw, James K. Douglass, John Nesbitt, William Seabrook, Thos. Cumming, Joseph Bryan, Ezekiel Noble, Thomas Na- pier, David R. Evans, Thomas Means, Thomas Flemming, Robert Anderson.
By this Board or any seven of its members, which number will be sufficient to constitute a quorum, the business of the Seminary was to be conducted.
In presenting these facts, says a writer of those times, we feel at a loss how to express our feelings. We are conscious that "the ground on which we tread is holy." That in the economy of Divine Providence we are called, as it were, to prepare another wheel in that grand moral machinery which centuries have been constructing, and which is destined by the eternal decrees to crush the powers of darkness and usher in the brightness of a millennial glory. That the world is about to experience a wonderful moral change, the most senseless must perceive. The signs of the times tell us we have entered upon a new and brilliant era of the militant church, and the observance of a few years assures us theo- logical seminaries constitute no small part of that engine by which the kingdoms of this world are to become the king- doms of the Lord and of his Christ.
How, then, should we feel when we discover that the Re- deemer hath planted one and another of these engines upon our continent, and that the South at length is about to serve as a fulcrum of one of these mightiest moral powers. Ando- ver and Princeton have already told us what part theological seminaries are destined to have in the illumination and refor- mation of the present age, and when we find another about to rise, almost in the extremity of this continent, surely " the ear of the deaf will begin to hear ; the tongue of the dumb to sing ; and the lame to leap as the hart" We say, we feel as though the ground we occupy were consecrated. We do so indeed ; and we only ask a half-awakened world to assume
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ome eminence of moral and scientific height ; and trace the ays of light these institutions are shooting into the darkest corners of the earth ; and gaze upon the wonders of reform hose rays are effecting, and then say if the arm of the Lord e not visible ? Should not we feel as though Almighty God ad called us, and in calling, hath honored us, to light up inother sun which shall throw still further west the light of he gospel, to shine upon the pathway of the benighted and hose who have long groped in the dim twilight of unenlight- ned reason ? The types and shadows of the Jewish Church have been lost in the star which hung over Bethlehem. The our hundred and odd years of paganish darkness which suc- ceeded the rising of that star have rolled over. The pomp ind splendor of regal power which for centuries clothed the church, have almost and, we trust, will soon entirely perish, is must everything which is not of God. The years of religious intolerance and ecclesiastical tyranny have expired, we hope, forever. Our own happy country has since been discovered, and by " her mild laws, and well regulated liber- ies," hath not only furnished an asylum for the oppressed, out a government according with the spirit, and congenial to he extension of our Redeemer's Kingdom. Hundreds of years have counted their last minutes-thrones have crumbled ind empires fallen, to bring these days of the Prince of Peace, which we see, and which "the prophet desired to see, but died without the sight."
And now, standing where we do, what must we feel ; or ather what must we not feel ? Those who have lived before is, who belonged " to the household of faith," have acted heir part to extend the dominion of Christ amid the obscurity which overshadowed them-the difficulties, the opposition, ind persecutions which surrounded them-and have, we firmly believe, entered the mansions of eternal bliss. We have to advance under auspices more favorable, what they only began; and we begin in this institution what unborn generations will not only behold, but feel and admire. And when the clods of the valley which shall serve to point the stranger to the spot where these bodies mingled with their kindred dust, shall vegetate and even present a forest, this nstitution which we are about to establish will rise in the plendors of its meridian, and shine among those other satel- ites which have long been fed by the light of the sun of righteousness."
27
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Such were the anticipations of the founders of this institu- tion, and such was the language in which they spake of their enterprise in an address to the public which was published in 1825 or in 1826.
The site selected for the institution was about two miles and a quarter from the village of Pendleton, on the road to Orrsville, and was donated by Messrs. Martin Palmer, John Hunter, and Henry Dobson Reese. [Minutes of Synod, Vol. I, p. 159.] A committee was appointed by the Board, con- sisting of Rev. Hugh Dickson, Wm. H. Barr, D. D., Col. Robert Anderson, Charles Story and Horace Reese, to attend to the erection of suitable buildings. To this committee Samuel Cherry and James C. Griffin were afterwards added. The Rev. R. B. Cater and Rev. R. W. James were employed as agents to collect funds for this institution in the South, and Rev. Henry Reid at the North. In 1826 Col. Robert Ander- son was appointed Treasurer, and Rev. Wm. A. McDowell Secretary ; Rev. Dr. Barr, Rev. Hugh Dickson and James Wardlaw, Committee of Trust. In 1827 the Building Com- mittee reported a plan, the building to be of brick and to cost $8,000, and the Committee of Trust, a plan to regulate invest- ments. At the same meeting of the Board, held in Charles- ton, it was recommended to Synod to change the plan of the institution by separating the theological from the literary part, and erecting. if the Synod should think it expedient, a pre- paratory school in the place where the seminary is located. The resolutions adopted by the Board on this subject were adopted by the Synod without a dissenting voice, and are as follows :
" The committee appointed to take into consideration the present plan of the seminary, and to inquire if any change could be made in that plan for the benefit of the institution, and, if any, what change is desirable, report that they find serious objections made to the seminary on its present plan ; that these objections are made by many of the warmest friends of the institution, and who, if the objections were removed, would probably be found among its most able and efficient supporters. The principal objections arise out of the present complicated form of the institution, embracing both literary and theological departments. The Board would, therefore, submit to Synod the following resolutions, viz :
/
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820-1830.] PROPOSED CHANGE IN THE PLAN.
Resolved, Ist. That it be recommended to the Synod so to Iter the Constitution of the contemplated Seminary as to nake it simply a Theological Seminary. The Board recom- nend this, among other reasons, for the following: Ist, They think that by thus simplifying the plan of the institu- ion, its concerns can be managed with much more ease and o much greater advantage. 2d. This change will remove ll ground for the objections now extensively made against he institution, that it will interfere with literary institutions low existing within the bounds of the Synod. 3d. The Board hink this change will have a tendency to unite the feelings nd efforts of all persons of the church under the care of the Synod in this important enterprise.
Resolved, 2d. Inasmuch as the impression has been made xtensively on the public mind that the literary part of the nstitution on its present plan, is designed to be a College nd inasmuch as this impression is obviously operating to he disadvantage of the Seminary, therefore
Resolved, If the Synod deem it expedient to make the al- eration proposed above, that this change, with the leading easons of it be made known to the public.
Resolution 3d. Inasmuch as a number of persons have already subscribed as donors to this institution, under the im- pression and with a desire that the literary department should be a prominent part of the institution, if the Synod make the contemplated change,
Resolved. That measures be adopted to afford to all such subscribers an opportunity either to continue or withdraw heir subscription. The Board deem this important to main- ain the integrity of the Synod.
[For the above resolutions, see first volume Minutes of the Board, pp. 183, 184.]
The change in the plan of the Seminary gave equal dissat- sfaction to many of the early friends of the institution, and o the agent, Rev. Mr. Carter, who had labored indefatigably or its endowment. They were, however, approved of by Charleston Union Presbytery. [Minutes, p. 67] and were adopted by the Synod without a dissenting voice. [Minutes ol. I, p. 184.] The whole amount of subscription pledged inder Mr. Cater's agency, including also that of Mr. James and Mr. Reid, (whose visit to the North was attended
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with little success.) was $28,937. Of this $4.765 had been collected.
In pursuance of the resolutions of the Board and Svnod, Mr. Cater issued in March, 1828, his circular to the subscri- bers to the Literary and Theological Seminary, informing them of the change in the plan and desiring them to notify him of their wishes, whether they would desire their subscrip- tion to go to the Theological Seminary under the care of the Synod, or to a Literary Institution located in Pendleton, under the care of the Presbytery of South Carolina.
The subscriptions obtained by Mr. Cater were regarded as forfeited by the. change of plan. $1011.40 of the amount paid . in was refunded to the . original subscribers, leaving but $3, 173,790 after expenses were deducted, to go to the new account of the Theological Seminary. This had been loaned out by the agent on insufficient security and the adjustment of those matters was troublesome and vexatious, but by the able committee to whom it was intrusted the attempt to re- cover it was at last successful. The sums withdrawn were more than counterbalanced by additional subscriptions by those who favored the change.
THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE SYNOD OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA .- The commencement of the institu- tion in this, its purely theological character, dates, in some respects, from the resolutions of Synod in 1827, to which reference has before been made. But it was not till Decem- ber 15th, 1828, that the Synod resolved to put the Seminary into immediate operation, and for this purpose elected the Rev. Thomas Goulding, Professor of Theology, with a salary of $800. and with liberty to remain in the pastorship of the church at Lexington, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, where he resided during the year. During the following year, 1829, there were five students under his care, who seemed to have pursued for the most part, a merely literary course prepara- tory to their study of Theology proper, which study was not really and fully commenced previous to the year 1831, when a three years Theological course after the model of Princeton and Andover was introduced.
At the meeting of Synod in 1829, the Presbytery of South Carolina had been approached by the Board of Directors, through a committee, consisting of Rev. Dr. Barr, Jas. K. Douglas, Rev. S. S. Davis, Rev. Mr. Talmage, and Mr.
.
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Hand, to know whether they would be willing to release the Synod from their pledge of locating the Theological Seminary under their care in the District of Pendleton. The release vas generously made, though not without an expression of disappointment at the results which had been reached. They tate that when they reserved the location they had an espe- ial reference to the literary department of the Seminary. Much zeal was felt for this in the upper country, and there vere verbal pledges of co-operation from the upper parts of North Carolina (which is the most dense and respectable body of Presbyterians in the Southern country, that with the blessing of heaven the literary world have been a nursery to he theological department. It would have been as Amherst s to Massachusetts and Danville to Kentucky ; that a Theo- ogical Seminary without students is a useless thing, and juch will a Theological Seminary be without a Literary In- stitution under Christian management. They have never concealed that they were not pleased with the management of the College of South Carolina which seems to be throwing all the literature of the State into the scale of infidelity. And they had thought that the literary department of the Semi- try, with the patronage of the church and such advantages in point of location, would prove an honorable rival to the College of the State, and finally be the means of correcting he evil complained of in that institution. It was never ex -. pected that the State of Georgia or even Charleston, in our own State, would do anything for the literary department of he Seminary, but it was believed that they would endow Theological Professorships. When the literary department of the Seminary was abolished there was a great disappoint- nent felt in the upper country. Public confidence not only n the Synod but also in this Presbytery has been much weakened not to say destroyed. The Presbytery expressed hemselves thus frankly, but
"Resolved, That this Presbytery do relinquish all right or laim which they may be supposed to have to the location of he present Theological Seminary of the South, and without ny reserve whatever, commit it into the hands of the Synod o be located wherever they may judge it most expedient."
Much might be said on the two sides of the question thus et forth. The judgment of the Board and Synod was right.
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No theological seminary in this country, where there is no Christian denomination established by civil law, can be sup- plied with an adequate number of students by any one literary institution. It must draw its students from many. The Theological Seminary at Columbia has had its influence more or less direct in restoring the reign of sound religious views in the college of the State. On the other hand, the felt wants of our religious population have shown themselves in the establishmint of Oglethorpe University in Georgia, of the Methodist College at Spartanburg, the Baptist at Greenville, the Associate Reformed at Due West, the Presbyterian at Davidson, N. C., and others later these. Still.our American experience is, that the theological school for the theological training of ministers should be separate and independent of the literary and scientific.
The Board of Directors now felt at liberty to compare the advantages afforded by different locations. The trustees of the Mount Zion College, in Winnsboro', made overtures for the location of the seminary there. Athens was proposed by others ; but the Board eventually fixed on Columbia as the permanent site of the institution, and the Synod concurred with the recommendations of the Board, December 5. 1829.
At the meeting of the Synod in Savannah in December, 1829, the constitution of the seminary, as revised, was con- sidered, section by section, and adopted, and is printed in connection with the minutes of Synod. Dr. Goulding was re- moved, with his own consent, to the chair of Ecclesiastical History and Church Polity, and Dr. Moses Waddel was elected Professor of Theology. This appointment he subse- quently declined. The salaries of the professors were fixed for the present at $1,250. Committees were appointed in the several Presbyteries to solicit books for the commencement of a library, and measures were taken for the removal of Dr. Goulding and his little band of students to Columbia. A letter was received at that meeting of the Synod from the Rev. John H. Rice, of Virginia, proposing a union of the Synod with the Synods of North Carolina and Virginia in the sup- port of one Southern theological seminary. In reference to this the Synod resolves " that it is inexpedient for this Synod, according to the suggestions of Dr. Rice, to form a union with the Synods of North Carolina and Virginia in support of the Union Theological Seminary in Virginia."
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820-1830.] GEOGRAPHICAL LIMITS OF SYNOD.
Of the theological seminaries in the form in which they how exist in this country within the present century, the first vas that under Dr. John M. Mason, of the Associate Re- formed Church, opened in 1805 in the city of New York ; hen that of Andover, in 1808 ; that of New Brunswick, in 1810; that of Princeton, in 1812; that of Auburn, in 1821; hat at New Haven, in 1822; that at Bangor, in 1823 ; that at Union, Va., in 1824; that of Columbia, in 1829 (first opened in Lexington, Georgia, in that year). Some one or wo began late in the last century, having but a single pro- essor during their early existince.
Of changes in Presbyterial bounds we have already written. We would merely record the following extracts from the Minutes of the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia at various times :
Augusta, Ga., November 22d, 1824. "Synod proceeded o the consideration of the sixth overture as to the propriety of altering the line of division betwixt the Presbyteries of Hopewell and Georgia, when, on motion, it was resolved that he line of division betwixt these two Presbyteries be altered as follows, viz : Beginning at the southeast corner of Burke County, on the Savannah River, running from thence a vesterly course to the Alabama line so as to strike said line at the point where it intersects the line of the Florida terri- tory. Whereupon it was resolved that all the members, together with the licentiates and candidates, who at present belong to the Presbytery of Georgia north of said line, be attached hereafter to the Presbytery of Hopewell."
Augusta, Ga., December 6th, 1830. "The committee on overture No. 3, presented their report, which was accepted, whereupon, resolved, that the dividing line between the Pres- byteries of Hopewell and Georgia be so altered as to in- clude the County of Burke within the Presbytery of Hope- well."
There seems to have been some uneasiness or difference as to the right of jurisdiction over the churches of the Southwest. In the minutes of the Assembly of 1822 we find, p. 10, that ' Messrs. Henry Reid of South Carolina, Edgar and Camp- Dell, of Tennessee, were appointed a committee to define the boundaries of the Synod of Tennessee," and on p. 13, they reported that they were unable to ascertain the geographical imits of said Synod." They " therefore recommend that the
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General Assembly order the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia, and the Synod of Tennessee, each to ascertain the geographical limit of demarkation between said Synods and report the same to the General Assembly next year." In obedience to the order, the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia appointed on the 22d of November Messrs. Barr, Reid and Davis "to ascertain and fix the limits of this Synod, and to report before the close of the present sessions." Their report was considered and approved, and is as follows :
To the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church ;
REVEREND. AND MUCH RESPECTED BRETHREN: We perceive from the minutes of your sessions, May last, that the Synod of Tennessee have applied to you to define their bounds, and from the proceedings in the case it appears that they consider the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia as claiming territory which properly belongs to them. We presume that the State of Alabama is the section in dispute. The origin of the late Synod of the Carolinas is well known, and that it was as old as any Synod in the United States, except that of New York and Phila- delphia. The Synod of the Carolinas included North and South Caro- lina and Georgia. The State of Georgia, at that time, included within its chartered limits what is now the State of Alabama.
When the Synod of the Carolinas was divided, the southwestern part of that Synod was constituted " The Synod of South Carolina and Georgia," and, consequently, the limits of this Synod in a southwestern direction were the same with those of the Synod of the Carolinas The Synod of the Carolinas included the whole of the ancient chartered limits of the State of Georgia ; and as Georgia originally included what is now the State of Alabama. therefore, Alabama inust be included within the limits of the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia, unless it has been separated by a special act of the General Assembly. But no such act has ever come to our knowledge, nor do we believe that your much respected body would thus, without our knowledge, and contrary to our wishes, deprive us of so large a portion of our territory. But if we were to grant (which we do not) that when the Indian claim was extinguished, Alabama became vacant territory, still, on the ground of preoccupancy, it belongs to the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia.
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